I did take two years of French in high school, but in terms of knowing how to cook French food I’m not exactly an expert. When I found out about this months theme for Go Ahead Honey Its Gluten Free; ‘Ooh La La Bastille Day’, I wasn’t sure what to do. How do you make French food (traditionally know for its bread, cheese, and sweets) without gluten, dairy, or sugar? I was pretty stumped. So I looked around at traditional recipes and almost went for french onion soup. But I was afraid that might be too easy. So I went with the French Onion Tart, which is typically with heavy cream and cheese.

Instead of using anything to replace the cheese, I used bits of potato. The texture is remarkable. If really feels like you’re biting into a pie filled with cheese; I couldn’t believe it! I’ve been gobbing this up like nobody’s business.

First start by chopping the onions. I cut sliced them horizontally and then cut the ‘circles’ in half. Add them to a large frying pan with the oil. Let them saute on medium for 15 to 20 minutes total, flipping/stirring occasionally. (You want them to be clear and starting to brown on the edges.)

Work on the crust while the onions are cooking. To make the crust, combine the first 4 ingredients and sift to ensure no clumps. Then add the almond butter, canola oil, and liquid stevia. Once its combined well, spray your pie dish (I used about an 8″ diameter glass pan). Spread the dough into the pie dish so that it has even thickness throughout. (Here’s a trick.. I kept my hands wet to do this; continually dipping them in water as I spread the dough. Otherwise the batter will stick to your fingers.)

Bake the crust at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes (maybe a little less). Remove it from the oven after its baked and set aside.

Peel and wash the potato. Finely chop the potato so that its in very small pieces. I used my hand crank food processor, so an electric food processor on a low setting could probably work. Set aside.

In a medium mixing bowl, whisk the eggs for about a minute. Add the chopped potatoes, almond milk, salt, sweet basil leaves, black pepper, and onion powder. Mix well. Pour this mixture into the pie crust. When the onions are finished cooking, add them to the top of the top of the filling.

Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes or until the crust begins to deeply brown on the edges. (The onions will have deepened their brown color as well.)

I used a pan that is a bit smaller than the other average pie pan (about 8 inches in diameter) and so had enough batter and onions to make 6 mini onion tarts. I simply sprayed 6 paper muffin papers, filled them, and baked them like cupcakes! Bake these only for 35 minutes.

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That looks amazing! I love anything with onions! I will even eat them raw, much to my husband’s disgust! This looks like it would be a diet-buster, but the ingredients say other-wise! Will be trying this one for sure!

Thanks everyone! You’re definitely going to have to try the potato idea. I’m glad you said you’ve had a similar experience Iris, it really was put in the recipe as a ‘bulker’ ingredient, I was so pleasantly surprised! I hope to try it with a few other recipes now too and see how it goes :)

And also a HUGE THANKS for the kind words about my photos. I’ve been trying to learn more about taking decent pictures. I know I have a long way to go, but you’re comments are so encouraging :)

I adore french food in general, but I have a passion for cooked onions. The flavor is so sweet and spicey at the same time! Very glad you shared this Aubree on the two for tuesday recipe blog hop! :) Alex

I am so an onion fan. Just put onions in and I have to try it. I want to see how my day goes and if I have time, this is on the agenda. Today is baking day so I have to sneak this in. If I do, I will let you know. Another winner from Aubre.

I was thinking of making french onion mini-tarts for a T-day appetizer… Never would’ve thought of potato – great idea! It sounds like a box grater would do an adequate job with the potatoes – do you think? or would the bits be too small?

@ Stephanie – a grater would work fine! Even a food processor will do the trick. The only concern with potato pieces might be that they are too large, I think the smaller you can get the pieces to be, the better! :)

thank you thank you! I used glutenfreegirl’s vegan pie dough recipe (which I’d wanted an excuse to try) and used Cook’s Illustrated’s hours-long(!) method for French onion soup to make the onions, but I relied heavily on your great ideas to actually put it all together. The potato filling works beautifully (and stretched the 3lbs of onion I cooked down so I managed to fill all 18 mini-tarts).